Senior Labor MPs', including Treasurer Wayne Swan, were present at a union dinner last night when "offensive" comments were made about Tony Abbott's female chief of staff Peta Credlin.

The comments were made by a comedian hired by the Construction Forestry Mining an Energy Union (CFMEU) as part of its "Fair Go for Billionaires" campaign.

Mr Swan delivered a speech to the dinner after the comedian had finished, and this afternoon has moved to distance himself from the comments.

"The comedian's comments were clearly very inappropriate and offensive," Mr Swan said in a statement.

"There's no place for those kinds of comments and I made that clear to the union this morning."

Cabinet minister Brendan O'Connor was also at the dinner and has described the 'joke' as "offensive".

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she left the function before the comments were made, but has phoned the union this morning to express her condemnation.

"Let me be very clear; on the reports to me, the remarks that were made were deeply offensive, they're wrong, the comments should never have been made," Ms Gillard told reporters in Canberra.

"It was wrong for them to have been made, and offensive for them to have been made

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-11/swan-gillard-condemn-offensive-abbott-joke/4307588?WT.svl=news0

See how it's done?... Apologies, unreserved, straight away, no caveats, no fancy footing...

MARGIE Abbott’s public endorsement of Tony and his attitude to women was misplaced. Of course, as his long time and obviously loving wife, she thought she was doing the right thing ― and if she wasn’t such a strong and honourable woman, it might have worked.

However, all that happened is that it underscored what a weak and ineffectual leader Abbott really is and his disgusting performance in the  National Parliament yesterday only confirmed what many people already think ― that he is a low rent clone of Mark Latham. Of course, at least Latham punched other blokes ― not the wall on either side of a woman’s head.

Julia Gillard took over where Margie Abbott left off, and she had every right to be furious by Abbott’s not too subtle use of the phrase Alan Jones has made unspeakable by decent men ― “died of shame”. Talk back radio today in Melbourne contained seething references to Abbott and the way he holds Jones in thrall. And Ms Gillard yesterday said it all, when she launched her attack on Tony Abbott. Meanwhile, his body language while she held forth was telling; a sneering half smile, accompanied by a shake of the head, indicating: “say what you like, bitch ― makes no difference to me”.

Abbott is drop kick. He’s not fit to lead an Opposition, even one which includes such shocking people like Sophie Mirabella, Christopher Pyne, Cory Bernardi and Eric Abetz, to name but a few. Tony Jones was amiss on Monday night’s Q&A by not hauling Pyne into line as he continually spoke over Kate Ellis, as did the egregious right wing ratbag Piers Akerman. Speaking of ratbags, Ms Mirabella will be on Q & A  on Monday, which is surprising after her heartless last appearance ― when the young panelist from GetUp, Simon Sheikh, collapsed and she distanced herself from being of any assistance. He should count himself lucky she didn’t give him the kiss of life.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/misogyny-mock-outrage/

The wounded leader who refuses to lie down and die is not without precedent in Australian national politics. Robert Menzies and John Howard come to mind. But it’s hard to find a leader who has lost as much political blood as Julia Gillard and survived. And yet, in the last month or two, she appears to have staunched the bleeding, steadied and even begun to regain strength.

Gillard is a tough politician – flawed, yes, but undeniably tough. Most prime ministers have a hyena tearing at their belly as they dash across the political landscape. Gillard has not one, but many. As well as Tony Abbott, there is Kevin Rudd the internal assassin, Rupert Murdoch with his dominance of the local print media, and a clutch of snapping, snarling commentators, bloggers and shock-jocks – a veritable pack of scavengers and would-be predators all.

Each day Gillard survives makes it more likely that she’ll make it to the election. Abbott and Rudd both know this. If an ‘ordinary’ prime minister (as opposed to a ‘natural’, or someone who is exceptionally talented or well prepared) can stay in the job for long enough, he or she may well learn how to do it. At autumn’s end Gillard’s position looked so shaky that her political longevity was being counted in days. Now, by early spring, many in Parliament House wonder whether Gillard may have learnt enough to make her prime ministership work.

http://www.themonthly.com.au/comment-gillard-and-her-attackers-christine-wallace-6168

MY Thanks to Miranda Devine for reminding us of the score so far: 

Gus' comment in CAPITAL LETTERS

1. “One Trick Tony… more negativity, more nastiness, more obstructionism…” - Anthony Albanese, National Press Club, January 25, 2012. 

CORRECT

2. “Due to its relentless negativity, due to the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition…” Julia Gillard, Hansard, February 7. 

CORRECT

3. “In your guts you know he’s nuts…” - Albanese, Hansard, February 9, the same phrase repeated on February 13, February 16, February 29 and June 25. 

BORDELINE

4. “No amount of muckraking or trawling or irrelevancies [by Abbott] will distract us…,” Gillard, Hansard, February 15. 

CORRECT

5. “He has no policies, no plan, just negativity,” Gillard, Hansard, February 27. 

CORRECT

6. “He stands for nothing. He is the Nancy Reagan of Australian politics without the astrology - say no to everything, just rancid, dripping, relentless negativity.” - Jason Clare, Hansard, February 29. 

CORRECT ON THE FIRST PREMISE... AS FOR THE SECOND, IT'S A SLUR ON NANCY...

7. “The leader of the Opposition has an unhealthy kind of obsession…” Julia Gillard, Hansard, February 29. 

SO HAVE I...

8. “There is a stench of negativity about this Leader of the Opposition,” Swan, Hansard, May 22. 

STENCH IS A VERY SMALL WORD TO DESCRIBE THE NEGATIVITY...

9. “He is unfit for high office.” - Swan, Hansard, May 22. 

I WOULD SAY SO.

10. “This guy is just a hack… a political hack…”, Albanese, interview, May 23. 

APOLOGIES TO HACKS...

11. “The Leader of the Opposition is not able to control his temper…” Albanese, Hansard, May 24. 

BORDERLINE... TONY USES BAD TEMPER LIKE ONE USES A TOOTHBRUSH — INTENTIONALLY

12. “He is Gina Rinehart’s butler” - Gillard, Hansard, May 28. 

APOLOGIES TO BUTLERS

13. “Tony Abbott is… a dog of a candidate” - Richard Marles, Labor MP, interview, May 29. 

APOLOGIES TO DOGS

14. “Abbott is a Neanderthal” - Rob Mitchell, Labor MP, on Twitter, May 29. 

APOLOGIES TO NEANDERTHALS

15. “The carping, mindless negativity and the permanent nay-saying,” Deb O’Neill, Labor MP, Hansard, May 30. 

CORRECT, ALWAYS SAYING NO

16. “Tony Abbott: Note to ladies: Make me a sandwich” - poster on the wall of the office of Labor minister Tanya Plibersek. 

APOLOGIES TO SANDWICHES

17. “Tony Abbott: I’m threatened by boats and gays. Gays on boats are my worst nightmare” - poster on the wall of the office of Plibersek. 

ADD JULIA GILLARD TO HIS WORSE NIGHTMARES

18. “The Leader of the Opposition [is] a dodgy snake oil salesman…”, Swan, Hansard, June 18. 

NOT NEW

19. “He is the most aggro, aggressive, political person in this country.” - Wayne Swan, Hansard, June 19. 

MY MATE JOE BUGNER IS LESS THREATENING

20. “[Abbott] sees political advantage in people dying…”, Mark Dreyfus, interview, June 26. 

TALK TO BERNIE BANTON... YOU CAN'T... HE'S DEAD

21. “The Leader of the Opposition will be mired in his negativity, in his aggression and in his bitterness…,” Gillard, Hansard, June 28 

NICE USE OF REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY....

22. “Like Jack the Ripper, he is going to be there wielding his knife…,” Gillard, Hansard, August 20. 

A BIT TOO BLOODY BUT WHO KNOWS

23. “He wants to go the biff day after day after day…” - Swan, Hansard, September 11. 

CORRECT. NEVER STOPS LOOKING FOR A FIGHT IN PARLIAMENT

24. “His aggressive negativity, day after day, going the biff, showing aggression…”, Swan, Hansard, September 11. 

BEEN THERE

25. “He is a thug…,” Swan, Hansard, September 11. 

I'LL BUY THAT

26. “Tony Abbott is the poster child for the vile, bully-boy values…,” Swan, on Twitter, September 19. 

APOLOGIES TO POSTERS

27. “He is addicted to the fear campaign…”, Gillard, Hansard, September 20. 

CORRECT

28. “These mendacious claims have been made by the Leader of the Opposition…”, Greg Combet, Hansard, September 20. 

MANY STUPID CLAIMS HAVE BEEN MADE BY TONY AND HE CAN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND A SIMPLE ELECTRICITY BILL...

and then Miranda Devine tells us that:

Charge Five:

THAT he did stand next to a sign that read: “Ditch the witch.”

Abbott didn’t know the sign was there when he addressed that carbon tax protest. He didn’t create the sign or organise for it to be there. For sure it was offensive. But it’s dishonest to pretend he was responsible. The elderly protesters that day behaved properly otherwise. They didn’t smash down the doors of parliament house like unionists had done, and they were offended at being branded a “convoy of incontinence” by Gillard ministers.

Ohohahaha... I nearly died of laughter here... Miranda, do you mean that Tony cannot read signs, nor the other Liberals (conservative men and women) standing there like stoned mullets in front of them?... That same Tony who cannot read an electricity bill for what it's worth...? Ah Miranda, are you joking? — or is this a lazy pitiful effort trying take us for fools?... Really!...  You are getting soft in the "hard-hitting" department... Sorry I am still chuckling... Chuckle... And there was another sign Tony should have seen: "Bob Brown's Bitch... " but you did not mention this one, did you?

Go back to doing the ironing...  i won't stop you...

I don't know if my sister's miserable ex-boss learned a lesson, but I did. It was that the most innocuous and even affectionate words can be used as weapons, especially against women. He used that word, in that tone, explicitly to put my mother in her place in their conversation. He used it to talk down to her.

Mum's spirited moment in the forefront of feminism rushed back to mind last week when Prime Minister Julia Gillard mounted her now world-famous denunciation of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's attitude to women, and especially to her.
Critics say that praise for Gillard is misplaced because in assailing Abbott, she was defending the indefensibly gross Peter Slipper. They say the world has taken her out of context. That was not how I saw it. Abbott, speaking before Gillard, had accused Australia's first female Prime Minister of acquiescence in, even nurturing of, sexism and misogyny. By the time Gillard rose to speak, Abbott had changed the terms of the debate. It had a new context.
In the Prime Minister's harangue, I heard a booming echo of the fed-up voice of a woman who had once too often been addressed as ''luv'' in one of its many insidious, controlling and chauvinistic forms, and had had enough. ''Listen here, luv, only us men are cut out for leadership.'' ''Listen here, luv, us men know what's best when it comes to abortion.'' ''Listen here, luv, iron me a shirt?'' ''Listen here, luv, you really need a bloke.'' Her breaking point, it seemed, was his use of the infamous phrase ''died of shame'', with its overtone: ''Listen here, luv, you know what your dad really thought of you?''
Abbott said later that his use of the phrase ''died of shame'' was unthinking, which invited the question: how much had he thought about the rest of what he was saying in that quarter-hour? Was it unthinking as ''listen here, luv'' is unthinking? Because that is not unthinking, it is thoughtless.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/now-listen-here-luv--when-words-become-weapons-20121014-27kv3.html#ixzz29Lb719p9

The suggestion that Julia Gillard had prior knowledge of the misappropriation of money during her time at Slater and Gordon is naive and irrational, writes Mark Latham.

Here's a question for the shysters in the Australian economy: what's the easiest way of siphoning money out of the industrial relations system?

The answer: cash payments to trade union officials from companies hoping to maintain industrial peace. It is not uncommon, in the lead up to union elections, for companies which are happy with the incumbent union leadership to support that faction financially.

In the cash economy, wads of notes can find their way into the pockets of union officials running for re-election. The alternative is to pay money into bank accounts established for the specific purpose of campaign funding. This is also standard practice.

And the point of this lesson in Union War Chests 101? It reveals the naivety of suggestions that Julia Gillard had prior knowledge of the misappropriation of funds through the Australian Workers' Union Workplace Reform Association 20 years ago.

At the time, Gillard was working as a solicitor with Slater and Gordon. She provided legal advice for the registration of the association under the Western Australian Associations Incorporation Act 1987. Subsequently, Gillard's boyfriend Bruce Wilson and his offsider Ralph Blewitt misused funds paid into the association by a number of companies.

Since this matter was first raised by the Liberal Party in the Victorian Parliament 17 years ago, Gillard's opponents have alleged she knew of the planned fraud when the association was established in 1992. But they have failed to answer the obvious question underpinning their accusation: if Gillard, Wilson and Blewitt were conspiring to misappropriate money, why go to the trouble of establishing a registered legal entity when the easiest way of achieving their goal was through cash payments or private bank accounts?

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4329728.html?WT.svl=theDrum